The venerable off-road SUV might get a four-cylinder hybrid powertrain.
Volkswagen sold the original Beetle for 65 years (1938-2003), and while the Land Cruiser 70 is not that old, it’s getting up there in age. Having been introduced in 1984, the go-anywhere SUV will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year and will remain on sale in the foreseeable future. The disclosure was made by the company’s VP of Sales and Marketing in Australia. Sean Hanley told CarSales “there’s no departure of our product plan on 70 Series.”
There are even talks of giving the venerable off-roader a hybrid powertrain, which would be practically unheard of in the automotive industry – to electrify a 40-year-old vehicle. While the current Land Cruiser 70 uses a 4.5-liter turbodiesel V8 engine, there are rumors of a four-cylinder hybrid drivetrain. Hanley didn’t rule out a downsized powertrain, saying customers would accept it, much like they did for the Land Cruiser 300 and its lack of V8 engines.
2021 Toyota Land Cruiser 70
He went on to suggest it’s a distinct possibility to go hybrid, especially since the company is trying to go greener: “In a generation of any car we change engines, that can happen. The key to anything that Toyota does and first and foremost in our thinking is fit for purpose in the market you operate in while still getting to that carbon-neutral position because that’s now high on the agenda.”
In the meantime, Hanley pointed out Toyota is busy clearing the backlog of orders it currently has for the vintage SUV. The automaker has temporarily stopped taking new requests in Australia due to strong demand, even though the 2023 model year arrived with a price hike of $1,600.
A look at Toyota Australia’s website shows the LC70 is available in both pickup and SUV body styles, complete with a snorkel mounted on the A-pillar. That engine we mentioned is good for 202 horsepower (151 kilowatts) and 317 pound-feet (430 Newton-meters) channeled to the road through a five-speed manual transmission. The workhorse has been modified over the years and comes with a 6.1-inch touchscreen, dual airbags, air conditioning as well as stability and traction control.
Keyword: Toyota Land Cruiser 70 To Stick Around Despite Being Nearly 40 Years Old